Sharp freezing container



April 12, 1933- J. KISSELLE I Re.20,693

SHARP FREEZING CONTAINER Original Filed Oct. 13, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet J. M. KISSELLE smu- FREEZING counnwa oi-i inal Filed Oct. 1:5, 19.31

A uil 12, 1938.

2 Sheets-Sheet li iiiikii o,

INE/ENTOR. L707? M Z zevcZZe W 7 ATTORNEYS Reissued Apr. 12, 1938 p v I Re. 20.693

UNITED STATES PATENT orrice John M. Kisselle, Detroit,,Mich.

Original No. 2,025,290, dated December 24, 1935,

Serial No. 568,570, October 13, 1931. Application for reissue November 29, 1937, Serial No. 176,969

23 Claims. (Cl. 62108.5)

This invention relates to sharp freezing conof a single width, but it will be distinctly undertainers, and has to do particularly with that type stood that the hinged partition units may be deof container having compartment forming partisigned and used in any multiple arrangement tions for the forming of ice cubes or blocks. desired. In this connection the outside container The object of the present invention is to faciliunit 2 is preferably of metal and of any standard tate the removal of ice blocks or cubes from an shape. ice cube tray, and is in the nature of an improve- A removable partition unit 3 is adapted to be ment over prior art ice cube trays of this type, inserted within the container 2, and as shown in such as the rubber trays disclosed in Copeman Figs. 1, 2 and 3, this partition unit is made up of i Reissue Patent No. 17,278, and the triangular a plurality of inverted V-shaped members l, 1 shaped flexible metal partition disclosed by the hinged together at the bottom as at 5, the end S preen Patent No. 1,688,887, in that ready rem m ers 6 of the p rti on being preferably moval of the ice blocks is obtained by hinging the provided with suitable extensions 1 to permit compartment forming walls of the partition. grasping of the partition in the removal of the ice Instead of relying mainly upon flexibility, discubes. By this arrangement the adjacent hinged l5 tortability, or the particular kind of material used, walls form the upper compartments for forming the essential feature of the present invention conthe ice blocks. Inasmuch as thewalls of each templates the bodily movement of one partition compartment are relatively bodily movable, it wall relative to another to facilitate ejection or will be seen that flexibility ceases to become an removal of th me cubes, important factor as far as ice cube removal is In the drawings: concerned. Material forming the partition unit Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a sharp freezing need not therefore be flexiblegbut may be made container provided with a compartment forming quite rigid and solid so as to obtain relatively partition unit embodying the present invention. great conductivity and provide a permanent par- Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 2-2 tition unit which may be neatly fitted within the of Fig. 1 and illustrating the preferred method of container at all times. This is in direct conhinging the partition walls when arranged to form trast to the standard one piece flexible partition 7 triangular shaped blocks of ice. -member which upon distortion and flexing loses Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view illustrating in its original shape after extended use.

dotted lines the relative bodily movement of the The-relative bodily movement of the compart 30 compartment walls. ment walls will assist materially in the removal Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view illustratof the partition and the frozen blocks of ice ing a slightly modified form of the structure from the container. The operator can grasp the shown in Fig. 2, wherein both the top and bottom p r n t n n f th par i i n and move apexes of the triangular shaped partition walls the same inwardly, plac ng compressive force are hinged. upon the block of ice in the first compartment Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view illustratduring the first part of the movement and then ing a modifled form of the invention wherein the releasing the block of ice when the partition memhinged partition walls are shaped to form ice ber 6 is up far enough to permit forward lateral blocks or cubes of rectangular cross section. movement. In this manner, one or several ice '0 Fig. 6 is a further modification somewhat along blocks may be removed from the container withthe lines shown in Fig. 5 except that the surfaces out removing the entire partition from the conof the hinged partitions are coated with a matetainer, or after the entire partition has been rerial towhich ice does not readily adhere. moved in any manner, itwill be obvious, referring Fig. 7 is a side elevation of a container unit particularly to Fig. 3, that movement of the com- 45 constructed in accordance with the showing in partment walls about the hinged members will Fig. 4 and illustrating notches in the top of the result in relatively bodily movement of such comcontainer wall for positioning the hinged pins. partment walls and the releaseof the ice blocks.

Fig. 8 is a plan view of the structure shown in The partition unit may be so formed as to pro- 7 Fig. '7. vide a hinged connection 8 at the top of' each 50 Fig. 9 is a fragmentary perspective view illuscompartment wall as well as at the bottom. In trating the manner of locating the hinged parthis case it is desirable to have transverse deprestition sections at the top of the container wall. sions 9 in the bottom wall of the container so as In illustrating the various embodiments of the to locate the bottom hinge members 5 of the parpresent invention, I have shown ice cube 'trays tition unit,or if desired the bottom of the con- 5 tainer unit may be formed as shown at Min 7 dotted lines so as to form a series of spaced triangular shaped portions for positively locating the walls of the partitionunit. In the latter case the only ice blocks formed will be those formed by the opened compartments of the partition unit; in other words, the removal of the partition unit in such case would not leave any -ice blocks in the container, as would be the casein the unit shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

The partition unit instead of being arranged to form 'triang'ularly shaped compartments may be arranged as shown in Fig. 5 to form cubical or rectangular shaped compartments. In this case the side walls II and I! of the partition are preferably slightly inwardly and downwardly tapered and are hinged together as at IS. The operation of such a unit as shown in Fig. 5 will be substantially the same as the partition unit shown in Fig. 2.

In Fig. 6 I have shown a somewhat modified form of the structure shown in Fig. 5 wherein the compartment forming walls II and Rare covered, preferably on both sides, with a coating I 4 of rubber or any permanent material such as tung oil mixture, as set forth in Hathorne Patent No. 1,932,731. Whatever permanent material is selected, it should be of such anature that ice will not readily adhere to it.- It will be obvious that with hinged compartment members and walls formed of rubber and the like that the removal of the ice blocks will be'a comparatively easy mata ter.

In Figs. 7, 8 and 9, I have illustrated a modified mannerof mounting the partition unit shown in Fig. 4 wherein the bottom of the container is preferably flat but a series of depressions l5 are formed in the top side wall of the container-t0 receive and locate the hinged pins ii of the partition unit. I

It will be understood that the descriptive word hinged in the specification and claims is used in its broadest sense and refers merely to a mechanical joint having a hinging or pivotal action.

What I claim is:-

1. A sharp freezing container comprising a removable partition unit having compartment forming walls, said compartments normally extending transversely of the side walls of the container and spaced the length of the container, said walls being hinged to facilitate removal of frozen blocks from said compartments.

2. A sharp freezing container, comprising a removable partition unit adapted to be positioned within the container to form compartments, at least one wall of each compartment being transversely hinged to permit relative bodily movement of the walls of the compartments.

3. A sharp freezing container, comprising a removable partition unit adapted to be positioned within the container to form compartments, all of said partitions extending transversely of the side walls of the container, the end compartment formed by said partition unit having hinged walls to permit bodily movement of the walls of said end compartment.

4. A sharp freezing container comprising a partition shaped to divide the container into compartments, the adjacent walls of each compartment being integral and positioned transversely of the side walls of the container and the walls of each compartment being hinged.

5. A sharp freezing container comprising a partitionshaped .to divide the container into compartments, the adjacent walls of each comcompartments, the adJacent ment being integral and the walls of each compartment being hinged, said adjacent integral walls being positioned at an angle to each other to form triangularly shaped compartments.

7. A sharp freezing container, comprising a partition shaped to divide the container into walls of each compartment being'integral, said walls being parallel to the end wall of the container, and the bottom wall of the compartments being hinged.

8. A sharp freezing container comprising a partition shaped to divide the container into compartments, the adjacent walls of each compartment being integral'and the walls of each compartment being hinged, and spaced depressions formed in said container for positioning the u hinged compartments.

9. A sharp freezing container comprising a partition unit within a container, said partition unit being made up of a plurality of units hinged together in zigzag form to divide the container into compartments, a wall of said container being so shaped as to positively locate the individual hinged compartments within the container.

10. A sharp freezing container comprising a partition unit formed to provide inverted V- shaped walls dividing the container into compartments, the side walls of each compartment being hinged together at the bottom and the bottom wall of said container being shaped to cooperate with the walls of said compartment to locate the same in proper spaced relationship within the container.

11. A sharp freezing container comprising a partition unit formed of sections of relatively thin material hinged together and dividing the container into a plurality of compartments, the walls of said partition unit being formed of a material to which ice does not readily adhere.

12. A sharp freezing container comprising a partition unit formed of sections hinged together to form, with the container, a plurality of compartments positioned transversely of side walls of said container, both sides of the walls of said partition unit being formed of a material to which ice does not readily adhere.

13. A sharp freezing container comprising a tray, a partition unit supported by the tray and formed of relatively rigid sections hinged together to form a plurality of compartments, the ends of the compartments being defined by side walls of the tray, the points of hinging being closely adjacent the walls of each compartment, some of the walls being coated with a permanent material to which ice does not readily adhere.

14. A sharp freezing container comprising a partition unit formed of sections of relatively rigid and thin material hinged together and dividing the container into a plurality of compartments for receiving a substance to be frozen, surfaces of the walls of said compartments in contact with said'substance to be frozen being formed of a material to which ice does not readily adhere.

15. A sharp-freezing container comprising, a receptacle having sides and end walls and a bottom, and means within the receptacle for dividing the substance to be frozen in the receptacle into individual blocks, the dividing means comprising a plurality of partition walls disposed at an angle to each other to form. together witheach frozen block from the partition walls comprising its compartment and the ejection or removal of the frozen blocks from their respective compartments.

16. A sharp freezing container comprising, a receptacle having sides and end walls and a bottom, and means within thereceptacle for dividing the substance to be frozen in the receptacle into individual blocks, the dividing means comprising a plurality of partition walls disposed at an angle to each other to form, together with the side walls of the receptacle, compartments, said partition walls being made of relatively thin rigid material, some of said walls being'hinged and positioned to afford bodily movement of at least one wall of each compartment with respect to another wall. of said compartment, whereby to facilitate the separation of each frozen block from the partition walls comprising its compartment and the election or removal of the frozen blocks from their respective compartments, and

handle means attached to said dividing means for imparting movement to the movable partition walls.

1'7. A sharp freezing container comprising, a receptacle having sides and end walls and a bottom, and means within the receptacle for dividing the substance to be frozen in the receptacle into individual blocks, the dividing means comprising a plurality of partition walls normally positioned transversely of the side walls of the receptacle to form, together with said side-walls, compartments, said partition walls being made of -relatively thin rigid material, some of the transverse partition walls being mounted for individual rotatable movement about transverse axes to afiord bodily movement of at least one wall of each compartment with respect to another wall of said compartment, whereby to facilitate the separation of each frozen block from the partition walls defining its compartment.

18. A sharp freezing container comprising, a receptacle having sides and end walls and' a bottom, and means within the receptacle for dividing the substance to be frozen in the receptacle into individual blocks, the dividing means comprising a plurality of partition walls -normally positioned transversely of the side walls of the receptacle to form, together with said side walls, compartments, said partition walls being made of relatively thin rigid material, some of the transverse partition walls being mounted for individual rotatable movement about a transverse axis ,to afford movement of said transverse" -walls relative to the side walls whereby to facilitate the separation of each frozen block from the partition walls defining its compartment.

19. A sharp freezing container comprising a receptacle having side and end walls and a botand means within the receptacle for dividing the substance to be frozen into individual blocks, said means comprising a plurality of separate relatively thin rigid partition members extending transversely of the side walls and connected together to permit bodily movement of at least one of the partition members, relative to the side walls of the receptacle, and relative to another portion of the dividing means to separate the blocks from portions of said means and said receptacle, the path of movement 01' said partition member during said bodily movement being parallel to said side walls.

20. A sharp freezing container comprising areceptacle having side and end walls and a bottom, and means within the receptacle for dividing the substance to be frozen into individual blocks, said means comprising a plurality of separate rigid partition members extendin transversely of the side walls and so connected together as to permit bodily movement of at least some of said partition members relative to the side walls of the receptacle to separate the blocks from portions of the grid and the receptacle, said members being at all times substantially perpendicular to said side walls during said bodily movement, and means connected to said dividing means to be' moved by the hand to effect bodily movement of one or more partition members.

21. In a freezing apparatus, the combination of a receptacle having side and end walls adapted to receive a substance to be frozen, a partition unit within said receptacle, said partition unit comprising a plurality of walls some of which extend transversely of the side walls of the receptacle for dividing the interior thereof into a plurality of ice blocks, some of said partition walls comprising separate rigid partition members so connected together to permit bodily movement of at least some of the partition walls about transverse axes and relative to the side walls of the receptacle whereby at least one of the partition walls is movable bodily relative to the side wall of the receptacle and simultaneously movable about a transverse axis to exert compressive force against the block and break the same loose from the partition wall and the receptacle.

22. A partition unit for use with and adapted to be inserted in sharp freezing containers for dividing same into compartments, comprising a plurality of separate' 'frelatively thin and rigid partition members, certain edges of said members being substantially horizontal in the normal use of said unit, and means connecting the partition members together, said means being so constructed as to permit bodily movement of at least one of said partition members relative to another part of said partition imit and to normally maintain said horizontal edges of said separate partition members in spaced parallel relationship.

23. The structure defined in claim 22 in which the connectingmeans-for the partition members are in substantially the same plane when posi-. tioned in a container and in which surfaces of the partition members are treated to form surfaces to which ice does not readily adhere.

JOHN M. KIBSELLE. 

